Australian shares traded lower on Monday, with mining and energy stocks taking the brunt of the hit, as investors await June quarter economic growth data to gauge the outlook for interest rates.
At 0055 GMT, the S&P/ASX 200 index was down almost 0.4% at 8,062.90 points, with all but two sectors in the red. The benchmark index closed Friday up 0.6%.
The second quarter of the country GDP The report, due out this week, could set the tone for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate path when policymakers meet later this month.
U.S. economic data indicate that the Federal Reserve will likely cut interest rates by a smaller amount of 25 basis points, rather than 50 basis points. MKTS/GLOB
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 228.03 points, or 0.55 percent, to 41,563.08 on Friday. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 56.44 points, or 1.01 percent, while the Nasdaq .IXIC gained 197.19 points, or 1.13 percent.
In Sydney, gold stocks .AXGD fell as much as 3 percent on Monday after bullion prices plunged, with the country’s largest gold miner, Northern Star Resources NST.AX, falling more than 2 percent. GOL/
Australian miners .AXMM followed suit, losing around 0.8 percent on weaker iron ore prices in top steelmaker China, with majors BHP Group BHP.AX and Rio Tinto RIO.AX trading down 0.4 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.
Other sectors such as healthcare .AXHJ and technology .AXIJ fell 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent respectively.
In corporate news, retailer Endeavour Group EDV.AX fell as much as 2.3 percent after Woolworths WOW.AX sold its remaining stake in the former for A$383 million.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.6 percent to $76.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 lost 0.56 percent to $73.14 a barrel.
New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell about 0.2 percent to 12,426.39 points.
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